Why am I a Squire?
by stomachcraving
Summary: Marco decides to stay at the wash to hopefully live out his knighthood dreams. But there are many obstacles that will try to stop his journey. Chores, laundry, his fellow squires. Even his own ignorance.
1. Chapter 1

"And this is who you're gonna squire for!" Star said with a sincerity that made Marco think she was happy leaving him with a 'knight of the wash'.

Marco looked around at the big place that was the basement of the butterfly castle. There was waterfalls of dirty socks and delicates, pools of detergent dense water, and a faint scent of soap that old people use whenever you walk around them and gag at the smell. Marco was a little wary of the giant death contraption that was apparently a lint catcher. From what he can see, there are no doors or even any windows that could bring in the warm sunshine that Marco loved dearly. All that was illuminating the place was a bunch of torches and chandeliers, which in Marcos opinion could be a fire hazard with all the clothes being around. One stray torch could set this whole place and castle on fire if one of them were to just fall down and land anywhere for that matter.

Marco then looked at Lavabo himself. He seemed to be in his mid-forties or even early fifties. His wrinkled skin and grey hair were almost immaculate and his clothes and armor were just as sharp too.

"Wait... this is a laundry room why would he need armor?" Thought Marco.

He decided to ignore this a minute and look at him a little closer. No one Denied that Lavabo wasn't one who didn't take care of himself. He seemed sturdy and well built considering he was just a laundry knight. Every time he talked about laundry he seemed to bring even more sincerity into his conversation even though it was just a mundane task. He seemed content with doing his task for the last sum of the years of life. But Marco was having internal conflict about what his apparent 'best friend' was doing to him.

"Is she just pawning me off because I just dropped in?" Marco thought.

Marco thought about how unfair his appearance was, just showing up without even calling. But can't best friends do that? Marco thought about this and realized Star did the same exact thing when she came to earth. His whole family had welcomed Star with wide-open arms into their household. Marco was very anxious at first because of the dangerous aura and the seemingly endless excitement that Star brought into his life, but he learned to accept it, even love it. The adrenaline it brought into his system was addictive and he couldn't get enough of it.

Now the Butterfly family was acting like he did nothing and was nothing. Just some useless toy that seemingly 'helped' in the crisis that was the returning of toffee. The cape that he wore almost endlessly was just a blanket for meats instead of a token of higher status. The king even said that he thought Marco would never come back to Mewnie to become a knight. Marco stood there with mixed emotions and maybe even a little anger as the two stood there and stared at him awaiting his reply. Star with an almost impatient look, Lavabo with excitement, unable to read the nerve-wracking tensity that the whole basement held. Just excited that he would get a new squire.

"Is it even worth it to stay here?" Marco thought.

"Did I come here for myself, or did I come here for Star?" Marco thought back to the confession that she gave him when they were sure that Star was never gonna come back to earth. Marco had some ideas on how he was feeling that night. He didn't feel any particular interest toward his best friend, because that's what they were. 'Best friends'. He didn't feel the gushy feelings that were written in books or plays. He didn't feel lightheaded or have any butterflies in his stomach. And as he thought about it, he didn't even have those particular feelings toward Jackie. Nothing ever felt any different when he hung out with her either. Maybe he just admired her carefree personality because he felt like he could be that carefree if he cared for her?

He finished up his thought process.

"You know what? I came here for myself" thought Marco. "I felt like I was strong enough to come here and become a knight. I don't need anyone to tell me otherwise. I don't need the kings, queens or even Stars acknowledgment. My body is telling me I don't anyone or anything telling me no. There are no soft-hearted feelings that dragged me over here to pervert over Star. I am strong. I can do this. Even if it takes being a squire to the wash guy." Marco screamed in his head.

"You got yourself a deal Lavabo!" Marco said with sincerity.

Star looked at him kind of shocked that he would accept this apprenticeship, even though it's just a basic tedious job. This quickly turned to anger because he didn't even try to fight to stay with her.

"Fine! Have fun cleaning whoever's dirty underwear!" She said practically shouting the last word. She ran up the steps in a hurry to hide her pained expression.

Marco felt the sting that came from her parting words, but he didn't let that deter him. He stood tall and saluted his new master, who this whole time was jumping around in glee at getting someone to finally help him in this almost painstaking job. He calmed down after a minute and gave a cough. He saluted back.

"Yes sorry about that, we usually don't get squires. You're the first one in a few dozen years!" He said with excitement again.

"Well, I'm happy to help Sir Lavabo. Just tell me what to do and I'll do it." Marco said contently.

Lavabo looked at him with the brightest eyes, as if he's a little boy who just opened up a brand new pair of socks on stump day. He gave a big smile to Marco and led him to his first task.

The lint catcher.


	2. Chapter 2

Marco approached the lint catcher, eyes on the rusty door that apparently held an almost endless supply of lint from not being cleaned for a number of decades. There was no hum that usually came with normal lint catchers, indicating that the machine was in a state of inactivity. The door leading inside had a healthy coating of dust that made Marco wheeze and cough just breathing around it. Other than that it was just a normal giant lint catcher that was in the center of the basement. Nothing too suspicious about it.  
Lavabo explained earlier to Marco that cleaning the lint trap was one of the rites of passages for anyone that wishes to become a knight of the wash. Apparently, Lavabo was one of the only ones to make it out of it 'alive'. Marco didn't see how cleaning an oversized machine filled with lint could in any way be a danger to anyone, but Marco just gave a salute and shut his mouth thinking this was gonna be a cakewalk to him. Lavabo explained that he just needed to pull a lever in the center of the machine and the rest would be done for him.

"I don't even need to get rid of anything? This has got to be one of the easiest things to do. He probably just wanted to hype me up for such a tedious task." Marco thought.

But now as he stood at the door handle of the giant contraption, he couldn't get any sense of ease. He was even feeling a sense of danger coming from the catcher.

"This is just a simple lint catcher right?" Marco asked himself.

But Marco still couldn't shake the sense of dread forming in his head and body.  
"Well, limbering up couldn't hurt could it?"

He sat back down on the floor and started to do some stretches to loosen up his muscles. Lavabo stood at the laundry chute, putting laundry in it staring at Marco like he was an elephant or something of nature.

Marco finished his stretches, warmed up and ready to face anything that was inside. He took a deep breath and grabbed the rusty nob. Marco could feel the old metal crust underneath his hand and peel off. Now there were rust filings on his hand, covered in orange.  
"Ew."  
He wiped off his hand on his pants and decided to open the doorknob by using his jacket. He finally opened the door with a sharp creak only to see darkness as far as the eye can see. There was a small pile of lint by his feet, but that was all he can see. Marco decided to step in anyways and close the door behind him, to try to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. He stood there for a little bit, just hearing the sound of his lungs expelling and inhaling air. Nothing else can be heard or seen through Marcos' ears and eyes. His eyes finally adjusted to the darkness and he can see lint. Just piles and piles of lint. He can even see the lever sticking out of one of the piles. He calmed down from the danger high he got and relaxed.

"Well that was anticlimactic, I thought there was going to be like a ghost lint or something haha," Marco said to himself.  
He started walking toward the level that controlled the huge fan that he saw at the back. That's when he noticed something.

"Is that pile of lint moving?"

He looked at it once more. Nothing seemed to be out of place. Just a harmless pile of lint.

"Must've been my imagination."

He walked to the lever slowly once again. Then suddenly he was being dragged by a giant lint tentacle from behind him, straight towards the mouth of a thing that can only be described in two words.

Giant lint.

Marco quickly tried to break free from the grip of the monster, but he couldn't seem to get a good handle on the fuzzy appendage. Every time he karate chopped or punched it, the tentacle would just reform right around his ankle and drag him even harder. Most likely from the anger, the monster was feeling of being chopped. Marco started to panic and hyperventilate from all the stress. His vision blurring from the lack of oxygen and movement ragged from struggling too much. His muscles screamed at him in pain to just stop and give in and he was about ready to.

"Is this the end? Is this how I'm you going to die? A giant lint monsters lunch?" Marco thought.

Marco ceased struggling and just let the monster drag him even faster.

"Well, at least I could die in battle and not from falling down the stairs. Funny how I always imagined that would happen to me."

Marco just closed his eyes and thought over his life. Memories flashing before his eyes. Sad to see that most of it was him trying to be 'safe'.  
"What was the point? Life was always more fun when a little danger was sprinkled into it. Now I'm going to die from that danger."

An idea quickly flashed in the back of Marcos mind. He quickly got to work on the seam of his pants and the ties on his shoes. He quickly took both of them off and slid out of the monsters grip slightly covered in lint and a coating of dust. Now pantsless and shoeless, Marco ran towards the lever and practically jumped on it with all force. The fan quickly hummed to life. The air whipping past Marco and sucking the lint monster into its lethal fans. The monster let out a shriek as it's lint innards were ripped to shreds. No sounds except the fan could be heard after a while. Marco was still laying on the lever, panting from exhaustion. He laid there for another few minutes collecting himself after what he had done.

Marco has essentially stood against a very strong monster and won against all odds. All by himself.  
"Now I can cross that off my bucket list." He laughed to himself.  
Marco started to get up off the ground and realized he was now pantless and shoeless. He tried looking around the room for them, but he gave up after a few minutes of searching.  
"I could always get more, this is a laundry basement." He thought.  
He slowly walked toward the door and looked back once more at the fan. Though the experience was scary, he felt accomplished. And he might have to question Lavabo about the monster. He said nothing about that.  
He walked out into the basement light again. Ready for his next task. And another pair of pants if possible.


	3. Chapter 3

Marco walked out into the candlelight of the butterfly castle basement after just defeating the colossal lint monster. His whole body covered in lint and dust in places that shouldn't be spoken about. Marco's muscles were screaming at him to take a break and rest, but he had to get to Lavabo and talk to him first. Pretty easy feat considering he basically ran towards Marco and started helping him walk. Marco could see that Lavabo couldn't contain his excitement for his victory at all and was practically giddy at the accomplishment.  
But Lavabo kept his mouth shut after seeing Marco in such an exhausted state and just decided to walk him to the squire barracks where Marco will be staying for the rest of his training. To Marco's fortune, It was just across the hall from the entrance to the laundry room so it wasn't that far of a walk. Every step Marco took felt like it was going to make him fall, but Lavabo kept a firm arm over him so he wouldn't faceplant on the ground and hurt himself even more. Being dragged by the tentacles really did a number on Marco. The whole backside of his body was red from all the rubbing on the metal, and some places were starting to bruise over from small bumps that he felt on the way into the monster's mouth. The adrenaline from the fight was slowly starting to wear off and Marco could start feeling all the damage he took. He grunted when his foot landed in front of the barracks, eyes starting to go black. Marco could feel his consciousness starting to slip away from his mind as his eyes grew heavier and heavier. Lavabo finally opened the door to the barracks and walked in.

There was a long hallway with 4 doors on each side, the hallway just ending with a wall. As he walked Marco by each room, Marco saw glimpses of what each contained. On the right 4 rows, there was just standard-issue military barracks stuff like bunk beds with lockers at the end for personal belongings. There was 1 bunk bed in each room and 2 lockers that stacked on top of each other for privacy. Each room was about 2 arm lengths wide and 6 arm lengths long. The rooms were also equipped with a dresser that was supposed to be shared and a kitchenette and bathroom. From what Marco could tell the bathrooms were actually very nice, containing a shower and a toilet for daily hygiene. A sink was also placed in both the kitchenette and bathroom for obvious reasons.  
The left row of the barracks were just storage rooms, pantries with food to cook with, a common room for squires to be at ease when not on squire duty, and the last room was just a room with a communication mirror to contact family or friends if you didn't carry a compact one on yourself.  
"All the squires are out for a group exercise right now, so you can rest in peace in your shared room," Lavabo explained.  
Marco just grunted in response. Marco also noticed that each room had nameplates on the doors to show the squires that occupied it. As he walked by the rooms, none of the names popped out to him. Some he did recognize as just people he saw around the castle. They finally got to the last room, where Marco will be staying. He read the nameplate that had one empty space under it. Probably because it hasn't been filled yet and Marco's name will be there soon enough. The name that it read above the space was just simply 'Higgs'.  
"No last name or anything? Well, at least it's a guy." Marco thought.  
"This is where you will be staying Marco, for the rest of your squireship until you become a knight of the wash like myself," Lavabo said to Marco. "Which won't take that long considering how fast you cleaned the lint catch."  
"Now get some rest, you deserve some. Make sure to clean up and put your laundry in the bin. I'll have it clean for you in the morning. There are also some new clothes for you to train in the dresser." Lavabo said like a doting father.  
"Oh, and watch out for your roommate, there's a reason why there's only 1 name on there," Lavabo said almost irritated just mentioning said person.  
Lavabo let go of Marco and stayed near until Marco reached the bed in one piece. When that was said and done, Lavabo nodded and closed the door and left Marco in the light of his new shared room. The room was just lit with candles in candle holders attached to the walls. The bunk beds looked comfortable enough as the mattresses were made from a plush material that Marco was sure he hasn't seen before. The blankets were big and fluffed and the pillows were filled with feathers that seemed too soft to be real.  
This could've been all in Marcos imagination though cause he was just glad he could even see a bed right now. Marco didn't even want to think about anything else but sleeping right now so he started to prepare. He took off all his clothes, or what was left of it considering all he had was his jacket and shirt.  
"My socks must've gotten taken too," Marco said with a sigh.  
Marco was too exhausted to even take a shower so he got in bed and tossed the covers over himself. He was right, the blanket and pillows were some of the softest he ever felt in his life. The pillow felt like his mother was cradling his head in her arms and was singing a lullaby to draw him to sleep. The blanket was just as soft and it retained a lot of his body heat to keep him warm throughout the night. This didn't help the heaviness on his eyes as he started to lose consciousness. Marco, after a few minutes, gave in to the Sandman and went to sleep and dreamt of the past day and its events.  
After a few hours of sleep, the door to the room opened.


	4. Chapter 4

The door closing could be heard as the rickety hinges on the door made a small squeak. This didn't really echo throughout the room due to the small size of the foundation. So Marco just kept on sleeping, snoring and still dreaming about the past events that transpired not even a few hours ago. Him accepting the squireship, Star walking out angry, him killing the giant lint monster that took residence in the catch. He didn't really feel bad about the second thing, she really had no reason to be angry. It was Marcos choice to do what he wants. So he decided to pick the choice that led him to be a knight of the kingdom. Whether he gets Stars help or not, he will succeed.

The footsteps can now be heard getting closer to the bunk that Marco occupied. The footsteps stopped for a minute, most likely examining what thing was curled up in the bottom bunk. Marco could be seen, a blanket covering his body, head on a pillow. He was up against the wall of the room, most likely an instinct in his sleep telling him to seek touch. Eyes closed, but eyeballs moving under the lids, indicating he was in his very own dreamland. He was mumbling in his sleep, which in itself was very annoying for anyone in the room. Other than that he was having a very peaceful sleep that was almost too good to interrupt.

But the person close to the bed was having none of that. The footsteps now got closer and stopped right in front of him. The sheets tightened at the ends and the mattress was soon flipped over. As well as Marco, who was now on the hard bunk bed frame and panicking at the sudden wake-up. Now wedged between the wall, he flipped himself back upward and looked at the person who ruined his somewhat perfect sleep. It was not who he was expecting though. Instead of another boy, there was a girl who had short orange hair and green eyes. Her outfit consisted of some kind of long tunic and leggings with a belt wrapped around the waist. Large wrappings were around her arms, probably to protect the wrist from damage from hand to hand combat. On her feet were large boots for long-distance trekking and steel toes for debris that would accidentally fall on the toes if an accident were to happen. Also really good for kicking heads in. Her muscles were well defined at the biceps and legs, pretty impressive for someone the age of Marco. Marco guessed that she was a hard-working squire based on her physique. Still didn't answer the question as to why she tossed him over. Based on the fuming look on her face, Marco could put two and two together that she was very very angry at him for reasons he couldn't comprehend.

"What the heck was that for?! And who are you?!" Marco said in a panic.

She rolled her eyes and said, "Bottom bunk is mine you idiot, now get off!"

She pushed him off the bottom bunk and started changing the sheets with the top bunks, leaving the sheets that Marco was sleeping on laying on the ground. Marco slammed to the ground and let out a grunt. Now he was getting angry. Did he somehow walk into the wrong room? Why was this girl being so mean?

"You didn't answer my question!" He said while getting up on his knees and facing her. "Who are you?!"

"I'm Higgs, you nerd! And stop yelling, people are trying to sleep!" She yelled ironically.

She continued to make the bed to her liking while Marco just stood on his knees dumbfounded. Why had Lavabo placed him in a room with a girl? Wouldn't it make more sense to place him in a room with another guy? He would have to ask Lavabo later. And ask why he was placed with someone so mean.  
"You're not Higgs! Higgs is a guys name! Why would I be placed with a girl!?" He said ignorant to the girl slowly turning around red-faced in anger.

"What did you just say!? I'll have you know Higgs can be both genders! And this was a name given to me by my family!"

She practically was yelling this in his face. Whoever was sleeping was most likely awake by now with all the yelling. Marco was startled by this outburst but he wouldn't back down. He came too far to back down from some bad attitude squire. But she had some other things to say to him first.  
"I don't know who you are, and I don't care. Just don't get in my way and I won't have to teach you a lesson." She said poking his chest.

She started gathering her stuff to use the bathroom for a quick shower, while Marco just sat there even more dumbfounded than last time. Realizing he was practically yelling at her in his boxer shorts, Marco thought he probably looked like even more of a fool. But he was too tired to care. She woke him up only after a few hours of sleep, and his body was still healing from last night. Day? He didn't really care anymore. He gathered his sheets and started making his top bunk just the way he had it last time. Once he got in bed he realized that the ceiling wasn't very far from his face.  
"Now I get why she wanted it so bad, this sucks goblin dogs." He thought to himself. Still, in an angry mood, he put the covers over himself and tried to get himself to sleep. After a few minutes, the shower door can be heard opening and closing. The lights in the room were once again blown out. The bottom bunk made a small squeak as the occupant got herself into bed too. Marco soon let the warm embrace of sleep take over him.


	5. Chapter 5

Marco drowsily awoke a few hours later and just stared at the ceiling for a little bit. The aches and pains in his body felt better but it was gonna take a little bit for the cuts to heal over. He did feel like he can walk by himself now, so at least that was going on for him. The ticking of the clock on the wall was heard and it read about 4 am, the sun wouldn't be out for another few hours or so. Everything seemed to be going peachy for Marco. First, his roommate is apparently a jerk, his body ached like a mother, and he still wasn't sure what a squire is supposed to do. Squire stuff? He would have to ask Lavabo all about it when he talked to him today.

"And it's going to be a long one." Marco thought.

"Well not yet since it's way too early in the morning." He glanced at the clock again. "Yeah wayyyyyy too early, I should've slept in. Stupid me and stupid roommate."

Although the bed tempted him to just go back to sleep, Marco already felt wide awake. Probably from sleeping at god knows when the night before. So he got up, first bumping his head on the low ceiling, then going to the shower to clean himself from the grime and wounds he got from the lint monster. After descending the ladder of the bunk bed, he opened the drawers in the dresser to try to find new clothes. The first drawer was just filled with Higgs clothing, nothing too different from what she wore now. Some casual clothes and other pieces. Marco decided not to see or think about the underwear so he closed it and opened the second drawer to which he found a fresh pair of bland tunic and pants. There was also fresh underwear but it seemed like it would be the underwear that was super itchy and starchy, but he took them anyway since he had nothing else to work with and it was too early in the morning to think about that stuff.

"Not the most fashionable, but it will do." Marco thought to himself as he picked up the clothing and a towel. He also picked up the soap and shampoo neatly placed in his drawer too, hoping that he wasn't allergic to the ingredients or the stuff wouldn't set him on fire. Now ready, he trekked on over to the bathroom and closed the door. Stripping off his remaining clothing, he walked into the shower and just looked around the room. There was a toilet, sink, medicine cabinet, and just a plain old shower with a full-length porcelain tub. "Wow, they must treat their knights even better if the squires get a full tub". Marco thought. He wasn't expecting this semi-decent bathroom that was so out of place of this squires barracks. He was expecting more of a faucet on the wall that didn't even have hot water and a drain on the ground that would catch it all up. But no, this is like a bathroom that you would find on earth. He shook off those thoughts and decided to just play it off as "mewni weirdness" and started the shower which sprayed warm water on to him. The water didn't have anything wrong with it or any weird chemicals. It smelt fine and it tasted fine too so there seemed to be nothing to worry about. As the water pattered against his skin, he thought back to his previous days encounter with Star. He felt sad that he won't be getting to see his best friend all that much anymore with all this squire stuff. He turned away from that mindset through real quickly. Flashbacks reeled through his mind, Toffees face almost showing up in all of them. It hurt his head just thinking about how he was useless during the whole fight. This was why he was joining the ranks, so he can better himself and be something above himself even if it's just a small part. Although he would like it if he did have any other roommate. If she was that angry yesterday, Marco didn't want to see how she was in the mornings.

...

Marco finished up his shower and put on all the clothes that he brought with him and tossed all his dirty clothes in a hamper in the bathroom. Most of the clothing he wore was torn up, but he didn't think that was a problem since he was going to be a squire for the laundry knight. Walking out of the bathroom, he turned off the lights and closed the door with utmost care as to not disturb his roommate and release her inner rage. He thought about what he should do until he had to do things for the knight. "He didn't really tell me what I had to do did he?" Marco thought to himself. "Then again I was pretty tired and beat up so I guess putting me in bed was more of a priority. I guess I'll just go to the pantry for now and eat some early breakfast." Finishing that thought he walked towards their room door. As he passed by Higgs, he studied her for a few seconds. Her back was to the wall and the blanket on her was slowly bobbing up and down with each breath. Her mouth was open and she was openly drooling on the pillow she was sleeping on. Her sleeping posture was even weirder with one of her arms behind her head and another arm off the bed. Her snoring was filling the room with the annoying guttural sound it was making.  
"Ew," he said with a scrunched nose and a disgusted look. "She sure is mewman alright. I really should talk to Lavabo about switching roommates, I don't think I can live with that noise." He thought.  
He reached the door and proceeded to the other side. Before he closed it, he looked back inside. He looked at all the furniture and all the little details of the room. This is where he would be staying for however long it takes to become a knight. The pressure to succeed was weighing heavily on Marcos mind, as if there was a twenty-ton anchor sitting on his cranium, slowly cracking his skull. He sure hoped he could switch roommates just so he can have a little relief in his life. He closed the door with a small click and started on his way to the pantry for breakfast.

Marco walked down the hall toward the pantry at a leisurely pace. As he passed the other squire rooms, he could hear the faint snoring of each of its occupants. He looked at the nameplates he neglected to fully read yesterday and still didn't know who most of these people were. "Well, I guess that means this is an opportunity to make friends." He thought as he reached the pantry. He opened the door and was surprised to find basic ingredients for almost anything you could make. As he looked closer though he noticed that most of these products were made of corn. Be it flour or cereal, they were almost all made out of corn or corn-based products, and Marco had enough of that the last time he was here in mewnie. He looked around a bit more and decided to just close the door so he wouldn't have to look at any more corn. "Geez, maybe there's a fridge or something." He thought sheepishly. Marco went to the common room next to try there and hopefully see if he had any luck. As he walked in, he saw the interior of the room was covered by a basic wallpaper and had lights on the ceiling for illumination. Couches were pushed against the wall for the squires to relax after a hard day's work. A decent sized mirror was placed on a wall across from the couches so tv could be watched whenever there was free time. There was also another pantry here with even more corn products and a kitchen to cook them with. And "thank god," Marco thought, there was a fridge that looked normal. He opened it up and looked inside to study its contents. There were meats that he had never even seen before but looked delicious. Cheeses and fruits were also in here, and the freezer was fully stocked with what looked like tv dinners but had weird designs and names like "mac and doodles" And "narwhal doughnuts" so he didn't even look at those for a second or more. The thing that stood out to him the most though were glistening eggs that shined like a holy beacon among a foggy sea. So he took the eggs and a bowl out of the pantry and started getting to work. As he was starting, he heard heavy footsteps walking down the hallway. The footsteps stopped when they heard the noise of Marco cooking, and walked into the common room. Marco turned around to see a surprised Lavabo staring at him from where he was standing in the room. He looked a little more tired than yesterday for whatever reason.

"Marco, why are you out of bed so early? Would you not want to rest after yesterday's events?" Lavabo said.

Marco stood at attention and stopped what he was doing. "I was uh... not able to sleep that long sir. Must be portal lag from moving place to place." Marco said truthfully. "Why are you up sir?"

"Don't call me "sir" Marco, we don't have to be that formal. You are the first-ever squire for the wash in years so I don't mind if it's casual." Lavabo said with sincerity. "Although when you are addressed by the other knights, I expect you to treat them like a real authority. And to complete each task I give you with pure confidence and work ethic."

Marco was caught off guard by this. "W-well okay then, but why are you still awake?"

"I was worried about your condition so I've been periodically checking in on you." He said exhaustively.

Marco saw the bags under his eyes and the way he seemed kind of slow. He felt really bad about worrying him and making an old man stay up at this hour made him feel even more shame. Lavabo was the one who was giving him this job in the first place, he should be the one taking care of his knight. Marco decided to talk to him about his room situation later and keep his other problems and questions to himself for now.  
"Its okay Lavabo, I'm fine now. You really need to get to sleep" Marco said. He finished up the eggs he was making. Nothing too fancy just scrambled. "Here eat this and get some rest. I'm sorry for keeping you up."

Lavabo looked at him surprised but then smiled. "Hmm, I guess there are some perks to having a squire. Thank you Marco my boy. No one has any time to cook here too because of all their knightly duties, so this warm meal is greatly appreciated." He said with a warm smile. "And don't worry about me, it is a knights duty to take care of the wellbeing of all the kingdom's occupants. Even the squires. Some knights here don't get that though." He said with a sad frown. "Some of them treat their squires like they were entitled to have them, but it's the other way around. It's a privilege that we knights have to pass down the knowledge and skills to the people who are capable of." Lavabo sat down and started eating while talking. Lightly picking at his food at a slow pace. "I guess that's just how it's been for generations, but it doesn't mean it's right."

Marco sat down across from Lavabo at a table with his own plate of eggs. He had seen some bad knights before when he was at the castle before, but he didn't think it was this bad. "Huh, don't we have any supervisors to fix that type of behavior? Like a captain of some sort?" Marco said while eating his own eggs.

"No, it is each knights responsibility to take care of and protect their own squires. We do have a captain, but she's more for general leadership and tactics more than anything." Lavabo said with a scrunch to his face. "Anyways, the bad knights are only a rare occasion nowadays since Moon has been crowned. Although there has been some popping up over the years, so there is no need to worry that much."

"Oh, well that's good to know," Marco said with a smile. "I'm glad I was made your squire then Lavabo, you seem nice enough."

Lavabo smiled wide, proud of himself. He seemed like he was in a good mood now even though he was really tired. "Thank you, Marco, with your attitude and skill, I think you will shape up to be a great knight at this rate." He said beaming.

Now that he was in a good mood, Marco kind of wanted to talk about his roommate situation. He knew that it would probably make him seem selfish, but he doesn't think he can stand being roomed with a person who's that loud and violent about a "bunk bed". So he took up what little courage he had and spoke his mind.

"Lavabo I actually wanted to speak to you about my roommate." Lavabo's eyes widened with curiosity.

"Yes, what is the problem, Marco?" Lavabo said.

Marco gulped. "Well, it's just that it's uh... Is there any possible way to get a new one." He said nervously.

Lavabo put down his fork and thought. "Marco that's the only bed we have left for the squires, even if I wanted to, I couldn't help you with that."

"But-but-" Marco started to say.

"Butts are for pants Marco, so those need to be clean. And don't worry so much, I know Higgs is... a little much but I know you can handle it." Lavabo said with sincerity.

Marco felt doomed now. He was stuck with a roommate that might kill him during the night if she thought he crossed her. "But she's a girl! I can't room with a girl!" Marco said desperately.

"Justice doesn't have a gender Marco, and plenty of other squires have to deal with it too so, I guess you have to." He said amused. "And we're co-ed for a reason Marco. If you don't get it by now, I'm not the one who will be kicked out like many squires before." He finished his eggs with a smile and started to walk out the common room. He stopped and turned around at the last step out of the room.

"Oh, and since you're better now, you have group training at 7 am and I will also be making a list of cleaning task that need to be done by the end of the day. I will give it to the head instructor and then he will give it to you. I'm taking the day off so good luck!" He said the last words in a sing-songy voice walking out to god knows where.

Marco just looked dumbfounded by the conversation that just transpired. How the heck was he supposed to know the reason staying with a girl is fine! He's only been a squire for not even 12 hours probably! He didn't really understand the whole conversation at all. And Marco didn't really believe the whole castle only had one bed. Now he just felt frustrated at the circumstances he's in. The whole group training thing didn't really help his mindset either, since "she" was gonna be there. He finished up his eggs too and started to clean up his dishes when he noticed the whole sink is full of dirty dishes. He silently scoffed. He doesn't even want to know how long these have been here since Lavabo said they cook on a "rare" occasion.

Marco couldn't just leave them there, so he cleaned them as well and put them in their respective places. But that's when he noticed the sink was just as dirty as the dishes, and as he looked around more, he noticed this whole room was really really disgusting! He looked at the clock on the wall and noticed it was 5 now, still dark. "Well since I'm gonna be here most of the time, probably to avoid Higgs, I might as well clean this place." He thought.

So he went to one of the supply rooms to get to work.


	6. Chapter 6

The door closing could be heard as the rickety hinges on the door made a small squeak. This didn't really echo throughout the room due to the small size of the foundation. So Marco just kept on sleeping, snoring and still dreaming about the past events that transpired not even a few hours ago. Him accepting the squireship, Star walking out angry, him killing the giant lint monster that took residence in the catch. He didn't really feel bad about the second thing, she really had no reason to be angry. It was Marcos choice to do what he wants. So he decided to pick the choice that led him to be a knight of the kingdom. Whether he gets Stars help or not, he will succeed.

The footsteps can now be heard getting closer to the bunk that Marco occupied. The footsteps stopped for a minute, most likely examining what thing was curled up in the bottom bunk. Marco could be seen, a blanket covering his body, head on a pillow. He was up against the wall of the room, most likely an instinct in his sleep telling him to seek touch. Eyes closed, but eyeballs moving under the lids, indicating he was in his very own dreamland. He was mumbling in his sleep, which in itself was very annoying for anyone in the room. Other than that he was having a very peaceful sleep that was almost too good to interrupt.

But the person close to the bed was having none of that. The footsteps now got closer and stopped right in front of him. The sheets tightened at the ends and the mattress was soon flipped over. As well as Marco, who was now on the hard bunk bed frame and panicking at the sudden wake-up. Now wedged between the wall, he flipped himself back upward and looked at the person who ruined his somewhat perfect sleep. It was not who he was expecting though. Instead of another boy, there was a girl who had short orange hair and green eyes. Her outfit consisted of some kind of long tunic and leggings with a belt wrapped around the waist. Large wrappings were around her arms, probably to protect the wrist from damage from hand to hand combat. On her feet were large boots for long-distance trekking and steel toes for debris that would accidentally fall on the toes if an accident were to happen. Also really good for kicking heads in. Her muscles were well defined at the biceps and legs, pretty impressive for someone the age of Marco. Marco guessed that she was a hard-working squire based on her physique. Still didn't answer the question as to why she tossed him over. Based on the fuming look on her face, Marco could put two and two together that she was very very angry at him for reasons he couldn't comprehend.

"What the heck was that for?! And who are you?!" Marco said in a panic.

She rolled her eyes and said, "Bottom bunk is mine you idiot, now get off!"

She pushed him off the bottom bunk and started changing the sheets with the top bunks, leaving the sheets that Marco was sleeping on laying on the ground. Marco slammed to the ground and let out a grunt. Now he was getting angry. Did he somehow walk into the wrong room? Why was this girl being so mean?

"You didn't answer my question!" He said while getting up on his knees and facing her. "Who are you?!"

"I'm Higgs, you nerd! And stop yelling, people are trying to sleep!" She yelled ironically.

She continued to make the bed to her liking while Marco just stood on his knees dumbfounded. Why had Lavabo placed him in a room with a girl? Wouldn't it make more sense to place him in a room with another guy? He would have to ask Lavabo later. And ask why he was placed with someone so mean.  
"You're not Higgs! Higgs is a guys name! Why would I be placed with a girl!?" He said ignorant to the girl slowly turning around red-faced in anger.

"What did you just say!? I'll have you know Higgs can be both genders! And this was a name given to me by my family!"

She practically was yelling this in his face. Whoever was sleeping was most likely awake by now with all the yelling. Marco was startled by this outburst but he wouldn't back down. He came too far to back down from some bad attitude squire. But she had some other things to say to him first.  
"I don't know who you are, and I don't care. Just don't get in my way and I won't have to teach you a lesson." She said poking his chest.

She started gathering her stuff to use the bathroom for a quick shower, while Marco just sat there even more dumbfounded than last time. Realizing he was practically yelling at her in his boxer shorts, Marco thought he probably looked like even more of a fool. But he was too tired to care. She woke him up only after a few hours of sleep, and his body was still healing from last night. Day? He didn't really care anymore. He gathered his sheets and started making his top bunk just the way he had it last time. Once he got in bed he realized that the ceiling wasn't very far from his face.  
"Now I get why she wanted it so bad, this sucks goblin dogs." He thought to himself. Still, in an angry mood, he put the covers over himself and tried to get himself to sleep. After a few minutes, the shower door can be heard opening and closing. The lights in the room were once again blown out. The bottom bunk made a small squeak as the occupant got herself into bed too. Marco soon let the warm embrace of sleep take over him.


	7. Chapter 7

Author Notes: Sorry for not updating as much as I would like to. I have been very busy with college and other stuff in life. I will try to pick up this story more often, but again I am very busy. I have gone back and fixed any grammar and spelling errors that I had in the previous chapters. (Hopefully).

Back in the medieval ages, knights and squires were a common thing when a kingdom was ruled by large monarchies. One could even say it was a necessity to have a supporting role such as a page or a squire to even run one's army effectively and efficiently. This is because of the tiring roles that the knights had to fill themselves, such as doing their own cleaning, making sure all the siege engines were running smoothly, maintaining all their equipment so that on the battlefield, you wouldn't be caught with a split shield that would break with one impact. All of this, including protecting the citizens of the monarchy would surely tire out anyone that has run their career ragged for years on end.

Through time, and through experimentation, a supporting role was added to the ranks of the knights. They came to be known as squires, and although they weren't as strong and resourceful as the knights they served under, they were still a force to be reckoned with. Why? Even though the squire is portrayed as weaker and less experienced, their knight and mentor choose them. They see a fire that they once saw in themselves and see it fit that they pass on the once glowing embers they still possess to feed the glowing flame they cannot hold anymore and do this until the last bit of ash inside of them is snuffed out. But the flame glows on inside the new catalyst, maybe even stronger than before, until the flame spots a greater vessel, and so the cycle repeats.

Through many decades and centuries, this way of life slowly faded into nonexistence and was never seen again, although parts of it could be observed with many disciplinary institutions. Firefighters, military, navy. But never on the level that it once had been. Surprisingly, with the introduction of portals and the multiverse, the flame is slowly and slowly beginning to smolder and embers are starting to form. Is this a good virtue? Or a bad omen? The question has yet to be answered.

But this is not a story of long-dead traditions and tribulations, this is the story of Marco Diaz, and how he will one day become one of the greatest knights ever known to Mewnie. As well as his battalion of comrades who is also on that list, but will not be named yet. (Because what's a story without an origin?).

Now let's get back to Marco, who is currently panicking.

Marco ran through the hallways hoping he wasn't gonna be late for the training that he and his, hopefully not so hateful, peers would be going through today. He was still a little angry that he had food all in his hair still and milk staining his clothing, but he was going to have to deal with it for the time being. Now he was going to have to figure out where the heck he was supposed to be in…

Marco looked at a clock in the hallway he was running down.

Five minutes.

"Shit, I'm going to be so late. I don't even know where the exit is!" Marco thought frantically.

He started freaking out in his mind a little and breathing very fast. Then suddenly an idea sprouted inside his mind. His eyes widened as he ran over to any window to see if he was correct in his assumptions. There, down below, were the squires lining up in formation to start doing the exercises. Most likely lining up early to escape the wrath that would be their knights if they saw anyone not up to the knight's code of conduct. Seeing this, Marco was relieved but still pondered on how to get down there. That's when he smacked his face and realized that he had dimensional scissors that could take him down there easily enough.

He ripped a portal open and ran through it as fast as possible, but what he was not expecting was resistance. As soon as he passed through the portal he bumped into something large and had a feeling of authority. Because Marco was not expecting this, he panicked and fell straight on his butt and maybe screamed a little. Marco was not looking at what he bumped into, but the thing he bumped into grabbed Marco's arm, pulling him up into a standing posture and started to speak in a tone that could only rival his mother when Marco was about to get a very stern lecture.

"What do you think you're doing?" The figure said.

Marco, in his now standing, almost shivering, position finally looked at what was causing him minor stress at the moment. Standing there was a tall, dark-skinned man who towered above Marco, he was wearing the attire of all the other knight's he saw in Mewnie, which consisted of chainmail, a tunic, tights (ew), and a cape. Marco couldn't tell what was tackier, the tights that were showing his goods to the world, or the cape that he so eloquently wore around his shoulder. Marco also realized that he recognized this knight walking around the castle sometimes but he didn't really know who he was. Based on his location, Marco guessed that he was leading the group exercises today. Marco realized that he was standing there trying to catch his breath for a minute and hadn't answered the knight's question yet. So standing up straight, and taking a second to get his bearings he answered.

"Um, just trying to get to the exercises…" he remembered what old guy said this morning "...sir."

The knight looked Marco up and down, and looked angered for a second but then slowly calmed down.

"What knight do you serve under and what's your name squire?" The knight said in an authoritative tone.

"I serve under L- Sir Lavabo, Sir. And my name is Marco Diaz." Marco said catching himself before he got another yelling at.

The knight looked surprised but then raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner.

"The order of the wash hasn't had a squire for years, decades even. And you're telling me that Sir Lavabo has finally taken one on?"

Marco was scared now. Didn't Sir Lavabo make sure to give him a note about chores or something? Marco was sure Lavabo would've mentioned his name somewhere. But then Marco noticed something on the knights back.

"Um, what's that note on your back?" Marco said.

"Huh?"

The knight grabbed his cape and brought it up to his face, there was a sticky note attached to it. Marco questioned in his head why there would be a sticky note instead of a piece of parchment because he was pretty sure sticky notes weren't invented yet in this dimension. He ultimately decided to let the question drift cause this was Mewnie. The knight narrowed his eyes and scanned what was written on it, then gave a nod of understanding. He then gave the note to Marco, so he could read it as well.

Sir Stabby,

There will be a new squire among the ranks.

His name is Marco Diaz.

Treat him as you would the other squires.

Here is also a list of chores that

he will need to do.

May your clothes be clean,

Sir Lavabo of the Wash.

"If I could describe Lavabos writing, then it would 100 percent be professional. Thank the stars he put the knight's name at the top too." Marco thought as he looked over the chores he had to do. Most of it was really simple task that he could get done in a fast amount of time, but some stuff on the list caught him offgaurd.

"What does 'defeat the starch' even mean?" Marco scratched at the back of his head in confusion.

He then took the note and put it into his pockets for safekeeping and turned his attention back to the knight. As he was doing this, he noticed the squires that were far off in the distance staring at him and his confrontation. Most of them looked like they were curious as to what was going on, and the other half was apathetic and wanted to get the squire exercise over with. Then there was Higgs and the other two squires, the big one and the old one. All of them looked like they were laughing at his expense. Marco just decided to put his head up and look at 'Sir Stabby'. He really didn't want to even look at them though.

Sir Stabby now spoke in a clear and authoritative tone to him.

"You should be glad that Sir Lavabo decided to put you under his wing, most other knights wouldn't think twice about kicking another squire wannabee to the side." Sir Stabby said with his arms folded. He said this with a soft face, most likely remembering a past memory. He then switched back to a serious face. "Now with that in mind, why did you decide to take a portal to the squire grounds?" He said in a questioning manner.

Marco was confused at this question, but he decided to answer honestly.

"Sir, I-I thought it would be faster since I don't know my way around the castle grounds." He said hesitantly.

The knight looked at him with empathy but still a little angry.

"Every squire should know their way around the castle grounds, and that doesn't give you an excuse to portal around everywhere. Now let me ask you another question squire Diaz, what would happen if an opposing force decided to storm the castle, and you didn't 'know your way around'?" Sir Stabby question hypothetically.

Marco was surprised at this line of questioning, but he knew the knight was right and decided to answer accordingly.

"Countless lives would be lost as well as mine, Sir."

Sir Stabby looked at him with an approving nod.

"Good, you get it then. I'm not saying that you cant portal around, its a really good tool, in fact, that has saved many lives. I am just trying to help you understand that you cant rely on it when it comes down to an emergency. Knowing the placement of where the hospital is and not knowing where it is, is the split-second decision that could help many many people." Sir Stabby said wisely.

Marco was impressed with this knight's knowledge, and he was right. Marco should've known. Sir Stabby then put out his hand.

"Now give me your dimensional scissors." He said with inflection.

"What?! Why?!" Marco questioned.

Sir Stabby looked angry now.

"You dare speak back to me squire?!" Sir Stabby shouted. He looked like he was about to give another lecture.

Marco was getting a little angry now too and truthfully a little scared. He had faced way worse in other dimensions, and he knew the knight wouldn't stand a chance. But Marco felt like this was breaking Lavabo's trust in him to follow the knight's code. Marco knew Sir Stabby had the authority and rank over him, although Marco has never really been part of an organization such as the military, or navy. He does know that you should follow authority though or else get your ass kicked out of the said organization. Although he was thinking, this he was still hesitant to hand over the scissors.

"S-sorry, Sir, I just don't understand why." Marco said.

Sir Stabby looked at him, still angry, but softened a bit. He spoke.

"Look, I know I cant even use them. Only you can give people the authority to use them. I just want you to understand what I'm saying." Sir Stabby said. "You will get them back from the armory when you know where everything is. So do not worry."

Sir Stabby put out his hand again.

Marco was still hesitant but gave him the scissors. Sir Stabby nodded and spoke again.

"And another thing squire Marco. Do NOT speak back to me or other knights. I will let you off this time, but the next time, you will be washing the latrines with your tongue." Sir Stabby said sternly.

Marco gulped and nodded.

Sir Stabby put the scissors in his pocket and nodded to Marco. Marco also nodded but as he was doing this he looked behind the knight in the corner of his eye and realized that their whole conversation was heard by all the squires. Half of them were laughing their asses off, and the other half looked apologetic. You can guess what Higgs and the other two were doing. He turned to Sir Stabby and Sir Stabby looked like he knew they were listening. Sir Stabby then looked like he had an epiphany in his head. He smiled and spoke again.

"Actually maybe I do have a punishment for you, and a way to teach you where everything is. Two corns with one stone as they would say." he said.

He turned around to the other squires and started to speak in a loud voice.

"Let this be a lesson for you all! You should know where everything is or else it will be your life on the line!" He shouted. "Squire Marco here will show you how to run from one end of the castle to here in 5 minutes!"

Marco was dumbfounded at what the knight just yelled to every one of his peers. Sir Stabby basically just put a target on his back that just said: "kick me!" for all the bullies in the barracks without even realizing it. And he had to navigate the whole castle, which is pretty freakishly huge in under five minutes. The squires that were laughing at him were basically laughing on the ground now. Sir Stabby noticed this and spoke up.

"Hey! Be quiet or you will be doing double that, AND washing the latrines!"

All the squires got quiet real quick but Marco knew that he was probably gonna get bullied later on.

Sir Stabby gave another nod of approval when there was finally silence. He stared at the ground and started walking to where there was sunlight and a shadow being cast off a wall. He made a mark on the ground. He spoke up again.

"You will get from one end of the castle to here, and if you don't do it before the shadow reaches this mark in the dirt, you will be cleaning the latrines." Sir Stabby said.

Marco was scared now, he really didn't want to clean everyone's toilets, and he LOVED cleaning.

"Since I am feeling generous for the new squire, I will even give you a 10-second head start. Now GO!" Sir Stabby shouted.

Marco was already sprinting.


	8. Chapter 8

Authors Notes: Thank you for all the people that are continuing to read this fanfic. I know how frustrating it is to wait long periods of time just for fanfic to cease existing. I will try my hardest to update at least once a week from now on. Maybe even more.

Most people don't realize that Butterfly castle was one of the largest castles in all of Mewnie, with its winding corridors and its many extravagant hallways with filled portraits of many people long dead. A hallway by itself can span many yards by itself. And it didn't help to know that there were plenty of stairs that you need to ascend just to get from one end of the castle to the other. This was all going through Marco's mind when he was sprinting through each and every hallway of the castle, not even knowing where he was going, to hopefully get to the squire grounds.

Marco had made it halfway through the castle in about 2 and a half minutes and had already gotten himself lost. His lungs were protesting his actions and his legs were asking for a break from the godspeed pace he was going at. Marco looked around in a panic as he kept running trying to find any markers that he could recognize from the times he did stay in the castle. He did seem to recognize many things, but none that would point him in the direction of the squire grounds.

"Crap, I've never even been to the squire grounds before, how does anyone expect me to make it there in 5 minutes?!" He thought to himself as he leaned against a wall for a few seconds to catch his breath.

Marco looked around the hallway that he was in. There were mirrors all around him, reflecting himself and his surroundings throughout the room. Marco looked into one and started to feel queasy because of the infinite amount of Marco's staring back at him, so he decided to not focus on that.

"Why does this family even need this many mirrors? You would think that one would be enough." He sputtered between heavy breaths. "Maybe River likes to pretend he's in another world or something."

Almost as if father time was looking down upon him, he heard a noise down the hallway. Marco slowly tiptoed his way around the corner and he mentally sighed. Rivers was there, looking into a mirror and mumbling to himself. Something about a 'mirror world' and how he wanted to know its secrets. Marco was about to leave him to his own devices when he remembered that he was still doing a time trial. Rivers was basically the only human being around that knew his way around the castle, so Marco hesitantly decided to ask him where the squire grounds were.

Marco slowly walked towards him and listened more intently to what the king was saying to himself.

"Darn fangled mirrors and their infinitely spanning hallways. I swear if they don't show me their secrets... " The king suddenly pulled out a rock. "They know what will come to them." He said in a low tone.

Marco started running towards him hoping he could stop the king before he did something stupid. He grabbed the kings and pushed it down.

"River, I don't think breaking inanimate mirrors will help you gain their secrets." Marco said.

River was startled at the hand that suddenly grabbed him, but then calmed down when he realized it was just Marco. River coughed a bit and dropped the hand that held the rock to his side. He spoke back at Marco.

"Ah yes, I wasn't _actually_ gonna break any of these mirrors here Marco my boy," his eyes suddenly darted to the side and narrowed at the mirror "unless they multiply me again with their illusion magic."

Marco was getting tired of this real quick.

" _Okay,_ River, I just wanted to ask you where the squire grounds were. Nothing else."

"Oh that's not that difficult, just keep following this hallway and you will find the exit." River said it as if it was a fact. "Every single one of these hallways actually ends up near the squire grounds. Were you not following the signs?"

"What signs?" Marco said with confusion laced in his voice.

"Those signs right over there."

River pointed at the end of the hall where the wall met a corner. At the top of the wall was a sign that said "Squire Grounds" in bright neon colors. This sign coincidently pointed at another sign that pointed out where the grounds were. There was even a map that pointed where a person was in relation to where the squire grounds were.

Marco quietly died on the inside.

Even though he felt stupid now, Marco decided to just let it go and keep on going to his destination. He turned back to River.

"Thanks, River, I will be sure to see you around." Marco said before turning around.

River stopped him before he could, however. He grabbed Marco's arm before Marco could leave in a hurry.

"Now hold on just a second, I am sure whatever you are doing can wait, Marco. Have a nice old chat with me." River said in a friendly way.

"Ah sorry, sir I actually-" River cut him off.

"Oh don't be silly, cmon then!" River was now pulling Marco away towards wherever the maybe not so sane in the head king usually had one of his 'talks'. Marco really wanted to humor him, cause Marco and River had a nice friendly relationship, I mean, however far a relationship could be with your best friends older dad can go. And he knew that he would have tons of fun doing whatever the king had in mind.

But Marco was a squire now. And he didn't really know what being a squire entailed but.

He really really didn't want to clean those toilets.

So Marco decided to let him down easy.

"I'm sorry River, but I really can't have fun right now," Marco pulled away from the king. "I have to get back to the squire grounds. Now."

Marco saw the surprise and sadness the king had on his face when he pulled away. He tried not to think about it as he slowly rounded the corner and went into a sprint. He could've sworn River whispered something as he left, something about himself being a squire, but it was too late. The king's statement was gone into the wind of the empty hallway of mirrors. Marco felt some guilt but ultimately decided that if the king really wanted to hang out, he could bring him somewhere when he actually had some free time.

If he ever got any free time.

Marco rounded the last corner and saw the doors to the exit in his grasp. There was only a handful of time left before he would be on toilet duty. So he started running as if his life depended on it. He skidded to a stop in front of the doors in a huff and forced them open. His breathing was similar to a dog panting now and he really needed water. He started running again and finally saw the squire grounds and Sir Stabby was pointing at a lone line in the dirt while looking at the exhausted Marco. Marco guessed that was where he was supposed to cross, so he promptly sprinted one last time, crossed the line, and fell to the ground in a sweating heap. Everyone was looking at him, mostly in pity, as Sir Stabby grabbed the back of his tunic and tried to pull him up.

"You see everyone? This is why you don't neglect your training." Sir Stabby said trying to make a point. "At least he made it on time. I could do it in half though. And at least half the people here could do it in 3 and a half. Remember that squire, Diaz."

Marcos's lungs were calming down now as he stood up. Sir Stabby looked at him and just let him rest for a few seconds before walking to a nearby table and grabbing something. He walked back and gave Marco a skin full of water, which Marco took in a hurry and drank deeply.

"You have 30 seconds to get ready and join your fellow squires in the line, more than that, and you have to do more laps. We had to start the exercise 5 minutes ago."

Marcos's eyes widened as he drank in a haste. He gave back the skin and thanked the knight. He turned to the line and now that he was looking at it, he had no idea where to go. Does he go in the middle or the end? I mean, it's not like every squire had a bad opinion on him. Right?

"I guess ill just go to the end."

As he was passing by each squire, he would get looks of pity, envy, anger. Some of them were neutral though, so at least that was going for him.

"Newbie." Someone said in a cough.

"Prince."

"Princess lover."

Yeah, it's not like he heard those ones before.

Before he got to the end of the line, he tripped harshly on the ground when his ankle hit something. Before he hit the grounds he twisted around to his side so it would take most of the damage but it still hurt like an ear of corn on the cob. Pebbles and dirt stuck to him as he tried to locate the perpetrator. Could you guess who it was at this point?

A boot connected to a leg stuck out of the line, and with it, Higgs. On her face was an expression of pure mischievousness as she put her leg back into line. Marco got right up and started yelling at her.

"What's your problem huh!?" Marco yelled straight at her face.

"My prob-." She never got to finish.

"If you two don't stop fighting and get into line right now, you are both going to be put on chore duty and get more laps!" Sir Stabby yelled at them from the other end.

Higgs and Marco both stood up straight and gave a quick apology to the knight. Marco just pushed himself into the line right next to Higgs so he wouldn't be in the knight's line of sight more than he already was.

"I hate you and I hope you get kicked out of the exercise, nerd."

"Likewise." Marco retorted.

"You couldn't even run for the life of you. Weakling."

"At least I made it on time. So go soak your head."

She elbowed him in the ribs and he sputtered out a cough while she laughed. He stood up after recovering and elbowed her right back and she started wheezing as well. They both got in a elbow fight for a minute until Sir Stabby scolded them again.

This was going to be a long exercise.


End file.
